cant hold sps fluorescent greens to save my life

JimmyStephens;1042461 wrote: Looks like a different frag to me?
I doubt it's your lights. I have read that you can have phosphates and it will still show 0. You could google it. But I know I've read that before. Since its a fairly new tank I would guess that. I would start off by testing alk/cal/mag daily and record the results and see if you have any swings. That could also cause coral to brown.
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it is a different frag but what it looked like.

ive been monitoring my numbers almost daily until recently because testing is moot.

my nitrates never spike higher than .75. and usually hang at .5
mag never changes. usually 1360-1440 based on water changes
alk drops .25 dkh daily
calcium drops 25 ppm weekly
phosphate i can only get a reading if i dose flourish (which i have stopped a couple weeks ago)
the phosphate reactor is rated for 600 gallons and driven by my 6250 gph return pump manifold and holds at least a liter of gfo.
ive also gone through another liter of phosban this past week.

green turf algae doesnt grow back like it did when i dosed phosphate.
also my biggest tell tale sign of phosphate is my maxima clam will not open if po4 measures above .1 ppm.

i really cant see how i have phosphates as i have been throwing so much media at it these last 2 weeks.

is it possible? yes. is it probable? doubtful at least based on my husbandry
 
do you make your own water?if so,how old is your DI resin?ive seen acros brown badly with high silicates.po4 removers wont do anything for silicates.does the acro flesh look dried out?
 
reeferman;1042479 wrote: do you make your own water?if so,how old is your DI resin?ive seen acros brown badly with high silicates.po4 removers wont do anything for silicates.does the acro flesh look dried out?
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i dont get diatoms. i clean glass on the weekends because some diatoms are present near the sand at the bottom. i have to dose flourish for turf algae on my rocks. (which i dont do anymore)

i did change one of my di resin chambers out with a brs already.

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this is my tds out.

i think it is lighting or "new tank theory". im kind of flying blind with lighting though. as im using 3 watt bridgelux.

if lighting is the cause, it would have to have a 3-5 day window to start giving the change. i cant try to rule that out because ive heard people go lights out for 3 days during cyano outbreaks.

it could also be water quality to slowly deteriorate the sps, which my testable parameters are fine. im missing some "magic stuff" to test. eg: there is no inorganic or organic carbon test short of a couple suppliers.

one thing i will note.
purples start at 1% 6 am. end at 10pm 1%. they dont get to 100% until 9 am and die back down to 1% again 9pm. so there is a ramp up on those.
whites have gone 45% from 10 am til 5 pm
purples and royal blue 90% 10 am til 5 pm

5pm til 8pm is a ramp down to 0. except purples which stay 1% til 10pm
 
Is the op the same that had color issues in another thread and I said it sounded like po4?


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Your 3 day window theory is flawed... You may see differences in the corals, but in my limited experience once a process has started w sps it will proceed until whatever termination is reached.

The corals won't respond immediately to change. When you make the correct adaptation you may not see positive results for 2-3 months. Therefore, don't be too quick to make snap changes.... You may get it right and never know it.

I don't know ab the BL led ... I'm not a fan of LED yet, although I'm running them now and getting growth.

Maybe I just missed it, but what is your alk?




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I see now.. 7.8...... I like dkh in the 9.5 range... Possibly has something to do w the issue


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SnowManSnow;1042492 wrote: Is the op the same that had color issues in another thread and I said it sounded like po4?


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so much po4. must.... water.... change.....
 
SnowManSnow;1042494 wrote: I see now.. 7.8...... I like dkh in the 9.5 range... Possibly has something to do w the issue


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id agree but i need to keep alk lower due to my lower nutrients.

.01 po4
.5 trate

i agree that things go down quick under certain circumstances. but lights out would not brown out corals in 3 days in the same "good" water.

least that is what ive read up on
 
I'm not saying you're wrong, but what does alk have to do w nutrient levels? The last unls I had had undetectable levels of nutrients and 9.5dkh


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SnowManSnow;1042554 wrote: I'm not saying you're wrong, but what does alk have to do w nutrient levels? The last unls I had had undetectable levels of nutrients and 9.5dkh


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alk burn. paling. overall stress. pretty common in the zeo forums.
i try to keep my alk at 7.5-8.5

also birdsnest could never be kept until i dropped it that low.

some people have undetectable nutrients, and it is bound up by turf algae or some other growth. i have no algae at all unless i dose.
 
Guys I really like this thread. I have questions along the same line. Tank has been up for about 8 months. Had normal starter problems but finally got the Alk and Phosphate under control. Cal is presently 450, Alk is 11 and still falling, Phosphate is nil (running GFO).
I have Current (Orbit) LED's (single 48"). My Encrusting Gorgonians are thriving, The Zoo's are existing but lack color other than green. I have red's and blues but they are brown. I got a T5 4 bulb Aquatic Life added it and after a week notice bleaching on the rocks. Zoo's faded and Star polyps loved it. So I removed it.

What should be my next move?
 
mhepburn2;1042602 wrote: Guys I really like this thread. I have questions along the same line. Tank has been up for about 8 months. Had normal starter problems but finally got the Alk and Phosphate under control. Cal is presently 450, Alk is 11 and still falling, Phosphate is nil (running GFO).
I have Current (Orbit) LED's (single 48"). My Encrusting Gorgonians are thriving, The Zoo's are existing but lack color other than green. I have red's and blues but they are brown. I got a T5 4 bulb Aquatic Life added it and after a week notice bleaching on the rocks. Zoo's faded and Star polyps loved it. So I removed it.

What should be my next move?
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IMO your alk is on the high side. What are your nitrate and magnesium levels?
 
i took a look at the specs for your lighting and i would say they are underpowered. 40ish watts with 200 leds is like 1/4 watt led. Generally they wouldnt penetrate far.

adding a t5 abruptly would bleach any coral that has been used to your settings for 6+ months. may want to try with a screen over the top first. softies are pretty forgiving, but you'll definitley need to give them a bit more "umph"
 
Thanks for investigating.

How about me programming the T5 for 2 hours a day (along with the LED's at it present setting) for a month, then increase T5 duration each week by an hour.

By the way, I do use a screen cover. I have also given the tank a vitamin C dose to aid in healing.

The Alkalinity was very high a month ago (15). I was dosing calcium with an AB instead of an A (oops). Did a weekly water change to get it lowered. Added the T5 2 weeks ago and its been off the tank for about a week.

Any other advise would be greatly appreciated.
 
mhepburn2;1042628 wrote: Thanks for investigating.

How about me programming the T5 for 2 hours a day (along with the LED's at it present setting) for a month, then increase T5 duration each week by an hour.

By the way, I do use a screen cover. I have also given the tank a vitamin C dose to aid in healing.

The Alkalinity was very high a month ago (15). I was dosing calcium with an AB instead of an A (oops). Did a weekly water change to get it lowered. Added the T5 2 weeks ago and its been off the tank for about a week.

Any other advise would be greatly appreciated.
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Yeah, put the t5 back on and run it for a shorter photo period like you're thinking. Don't do too many changes at once.
 
update:
ok finally. one of my tyree acros i got from the aviarium has a flourescent green growth tip. it is just barely visible.

all i have done was turn gfo off (monitoring phosphates), and bumped purples and royal blues to 100%. whites 20%. most of the day except at noon where they get a short spike of 100% from 12-1pm.
 
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